A Turtle-tastic Road Trip!
by boasamishipper
Summary: ONESHOT DEDICATION: Even ninjas need a day off! As April and her dad take our favorite ninjas out to a special spot, stories are told, thoughts are revealed, and friendships are shared. Birthday fic to Muse2488. Hope you like it, Musey! Read and review!


A Turtle-tastic Road Trip!

By Boasamishipper

**Hey! *waves* Thanks for tuning in to my first TMNT fic. It's dedicated to an awesome writer, a special friend and a fellow obsessed fan of the Ninja Turtles: Muse2488. Musey, I hope you love this fic and that you have a fan-frigging-tastic 25****th**** birthday!**

**Disclaimer: I tried to call Nickelodeon to see if they'd lend me the turtles for Musey's birthday, but all I got was a dial tone. Rude.**

Michelangelo Hamato was a tornado of excitement so contagious that even Raphael was smiling now and then. "I'm so excited, I can't wait to go! When is April and Casey coming? Did they remember to bring all of the good horror movies? I hope they have pizza where we're going because if they didn't then that would be horrible and—"

"One more word, Mikey," Raphael growled, holding his head in his hands. "One more word, Mikey, and I swear you won't live to see the inside of their truck."

"Raph," Leonardo admonished. "He's excited. Give him a break."

"Yeah, Raph, give me a break," Mike taunted. "Aren't you supposed to be nice this time of year? It's the last bit of summer, the birds are chirping, the wind is blowing—"

"And soon we'll be there to see it, Mike. Go make yourself busy for the next twenty minutes, okay?" Donatello asked desperately, coming out of the Lab. Mikey gave him a Cheshire-cat-esque grin and vanished upstairs.

Raphael gave an exaggerated sigh. "Thanks, genius. I thought the Chucklehead would never shut up."

"Sometimes you have to use words rather than violence," Donny preached.

"Not happening, but thanks."

Donny rolled his eyes. "You're welcome, Raph. I'm going back to the Lab to finish up my project."

"Donny, you've had the last ten days to finish up your project!" Leo said. "What exactly is it?"

"Well, I'm acquiring the last bit of the CAD coding—"Donny paused as he noticed his brothers' faces going slack with boredom. "Too geeky?"

"Too geeky," they repeated.

April suddenly appeared at the door. "Hey, guys!"

"Hey, Ape!" the turtles said, giving their human companions hugs. April was wearing shorts, a T-shirt, and hiking boots. "We've got everythin' set up, guys," April said.

"Nice," Leo said. "Mikey's really excited for this."

"Sure, _Mikey's_ excited," Raph said sarcastically to his big brother.

"Okay, we're excited too!" Leo admitted. "Although I am a little worried about missing a whole day of training."

Raph snorted. "Teacher's pet. Anyway, Sensei will have a whole new program devised before we get back."

"Correct, my son," Master Splinter said, appearing out of nowhere. "If you like, we can start now?"

"Uh…" Raph hesitated.

"Go have fun, my sons," their Sensei said. "Even ninjas need a day off every now and then. And after all, you did just save the world."

"Hai, Sensei," the turtles said.

April smiled at Sensei. "Thanks for letting them come with us, Master Splinter."

"It is no problem, Miss O'Neil. I see it as a reward for them and a point of relaxation for myself." He bowed at the humans before exiting the lair.

April crossed her arms in front of her chest. "So, are you guys ready?"

"_We_ are," Leo said mischievously.

"Where's—"April started to say.

"MIKEY! Get your _shell_ _down_ here right now!" Raphael interrupted April.

Michelangelo reappeared at the top of the stairs, smirking at his older brother. "What's the problem, Raphie?"

"You're holdin' everybody up, Chucklehead!" Raphael retorted angrily. "What in the shell were you doing up there?"

"That's for me to know and you to find out."

"I swear, Mike, if you did anything to my room—"

"Well, are we gonna stand here gossiping, or are we going to get our shells on the road?" Michelangelo changed the subject, and Raph captured him in a firm headlock, smirking.

"You're just _beggin'_ for a shell kickin', Mike. One foot in front of the other, and let's _move_."

April grinned. "Come on, Mikey. Dad and I got a bunch of horror movies for us to watch tonight."

"Booyakasha!" Mikey shouted before disappearing out the door. Raph rolled his eyes when he heard his brother run into Kirby O'Neil. "Sorry, sir! Didn't see ya there!"

"Idiot," Raph mumbled to himself.

"You're gonna be stuck with him for today, Raph, so be civil," Leo said.

"I'm always civil!"

"On what planet?"

Raph captured Leonardo in a headlock. "This one, Fearless Leader. Move your shells."

(*) (*)

"I'm shutting up now," Michelangelo said quickly.

"You've been saying that for the last two hours, Mike," April said wearily.

Raph smirked. "Now you see what y'all got yourselves into? Meet Mikey, the turtle who never shuts up."

Mikey rolled his eyes. "I can shut up!"

"Uh huh."

"How long is it supposed to take to get there, Don?" Mike suddenly asked him.

"A few hours, bro. And if you start asking me how long before we get there every fifteen seconds, your talking privileges are getting revoked."

"Geez, tough crowd," Mikey commented. "I can't tease my bros; I can't ask how long it is…what the heck am I supposed to _do_ the whole time?"

"You could try to avoid getting on our last nerve," Leo suggested.

"But there's no fun in that," Mike whined.

"That's it!" April commented. "All of you be quiet right _now!"_

"Raph started it!" Mike quickly said.

"I don't care who started, but I'm gonna finish it!" Kirby suddenly said. "The next turtle that talks get left behind with Mikey!"

The truck was as silent as a graveyard until… "Anyone want to sing 99 Bottles of Beer on the Wall?"

"MIKEY!" April, Kirby, Donny, Leo, and Raph exclaimed, shocking the orange-masked turtle into silence. "It was just an offer."

(*) (*)

After six comic books, four hours, and one poorly played game of tic-tac-toe later, April unlocked the back of the truck. "We're here!" She said in a sing-song voice. "Close your eyes, guys. I can't wait for you to see this."

The smell of the sea hit the orange-masked turtle the moment she opened the door, and it only expanded when the wind wafted up around them. His hand flickered to his nunchaku out of instinct, but his mind stopped him. _Ape wouldn't set us up like that. I know it. We're here to have fun._

April motioned to the turtles wordlessly, and Michelangelo caught his breath a little when he saw the view of the New York City skyline reflected against the ocean. "Whoa."

Raphael's eyes were wide, as were Donatello's and Leonardo's. "That's amazing, April," Don said shyly.

April grinned. "Dad and I came out here all the time when I was a kid. He always told me the legend of Atlantis."

"What's Atlantis?" Mikey asked.

April's eyes widened. "You've never heard it?"

"Not like we'd had much chance to, Ape," Raph smirked.

"What Raph means to say is we'd like to hear it," Donny said quickly.

April smiled. "Sure. Although I can't promise that it'll be interesting. Okay. So long ago, in the very distant past, there was a huge island as large as North Africa and the Near East combined—"

Mike raised his hand. "How big is North Africa?"

April considered. "Uh…well, it's probably bigger than the United States."

Mike looked satisfied.

"And this island, it existed in the Atlantic Ocean. The island belonged to Poseidon, who's the god of the sea. Poseidon fell in love with a young woman of the island named Cleito and married her. Poseidon built a city on the island, and on a mountain in the center of the city, he built a palace for Cleito. The couple had ten children, and in time Poseidon divided the island among them, giving each a section to rule."

"Ten kids? Didn't Cleito have a hobby?"

"Shut up, Mikey," Donny said. "I wanna listen."

"In answer to Mikey's question, I think that Cleito had a lot of hobbies, but I'm not sure. After all, she lived in Atlantis; she probably had to do something."

"Carry on," Mike smirked.

April did. "So Atlantis was a paradise: no one had to work hard, every type of wonderful food grew there—"

"Even pizza?"

"I don't think pizza was invented yet."

"But pizza's the most wonderful food there is!"

"Pizza didn't exist back then, Mike. But they had other good foods, like olives and strawberries—"

"How is that good food?"

Raph slapped him on the head, effectively quieting his brother.

April smiled. "Thanks, Raph. Okay, so there was good food, and there were lots of cool animals there. Poseidon had created one stream of hot water and one stream of cold water for the island. It had a glorious culture with magnificent fortresses and temples. The kings—a.k.a. the sons of Poseidon, were rich in gold, silver, and other precious metals. The people of Atlantis lived in a golden age of harmony and wealth."

Raph cracked a smile. "I'd like ta live there."

April smiled. "So would I. The legends sound amazing."

Leo studied the surface of the water. "So then what happened?"

"Well…things began to change. The gods started to intermarry with humans—"

"Why's that a bad thing?"

April looked lost. "I don't know. I think it was just forbidden amongst Zeus, who's the king god." There was a strange simplicity to Mikey's thinking that had the ring of wisdom of the ages.

"Then the Atlanteans became greedy for more than they had. They had plans to conquer the lands around the Mediterranean to turn it into one big Atlantis. Zeus was so angry by the Atlanteans' behavior he sent a series of earthquakes that made Atlantis sink into the sea in the course of one day and one night."

Donny stared at the water. "And no one found it?"

"Nope," April said sadly. "Lots of people believe it's a myth, but I think that it's real. And since it's real, I want to be the one to find it."

"I'll help you too!" Mikey said, his voice full of enthusiasm. "Donny will look up the coordinates and he'll find it by lunchtime."

Donny jerked. "What?"

"I'm messing with your shell, bro," Mike said seriously. "Hey, Ape, why did Zeus destroy Atlantis again?"

"He was angry at their behavior."

"But why? I mean, it wasn't their fault. They were just being curious."

"Zeus is a hothead, Mike. He's full of himself, and he wanted to be right," April replied. "At least that's what Dad says."

Kirby, who'd been standing by the truck, held up his hands. "Don't bring me into it."

"Fine, Dad." April grinned.

"I wish the humans accepted us the way you do," Mikey mumbled. Raph looked at him in surprise.

"I mean, I've been thinking ever since the whole Chris Bradford thing. If humans can't accept us or even know what we do, then what's the point? What's the point in fighting for them, when there isn't any hope for us?"

April put her arm around her friend, who was staring at the surface of the water. "Mikey, there are always the bad people in a group who don't see the good in everything. But there are people who see the good, no matter what package it comes in."

"It feels surreal that we've even made it to this point, Chucklehead, I'll give you that," Raph added. "But I'm choosing to believe it.

Mikey gave a half-smile. "Wow, Raph. That was beautiful." He pretended to wipe his eyes. "What happened to your eternal pessimism?"

"Shut up, Mikey."

"This is really awesome, April," Donny said suddenly. "Thanks a bunch for bringing us out here. I mean, we're usually out on the surface saving the world. And now we're just relaxing. It feels a bit unreal. Like if we blink, it'll be gone."

"Let me tell you, Donny, you can blink as many times as you need. But nothing's gonna change. Like Raph said, it's real," April said.

"It's really been a turtle-tastic road trip, that's what he meant!" Mikey said happily. "And the only way to top it is with a game of Ninja Tag!"

"I call Mikey!" Donny yelled.

"You and me, Raph?"

Raph cracked his knuckles. "Let's show him what it means to be the oldest, bro."

April laughed wholeheartedly as she watched her best friends in the world chase each other around the truck and the area. _This is an awesome trip, and I'm glad to share it with my friends. After all, friends both near and far can make our world feel brighter._

**And that's that! Sorry if the ending seemed a bit abrupt, but I figured I'd end it on a happy note rather than have it back home. My dear Musey, I hope this little oneshot did you justice, and I hope that you have the best 25****th**** birthday ever!**

**Love,**

**-Boa **


End file.
